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The French puéricultrice
Author(s) -
FOSTER MARIECLAUDE
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1111/j.1099-0860.1988.tb00556.x
Subject(s) - visitor pattern , unit (ring theory) , exploratory research , state (computer science) , work (physics) , sociology , health care , social research , social work , political science , social care , public relations , public administration , social science , psychology , nursing , medicine , law , engineering , mechanical engineering , mathematics education , algorithm , computer science , programming language
SUMMARY. This paper looks at the French equivalent of the British health visitor—the puéricultrice. Through consideration of the role of the State in child surveillance and official social policy regarding children, it explores the hypothesis that the work of these two sets of workers (and hence their perspectives) is to a large extent socially constructed. The paper is based on an exploratory study conducted in 1987 and funded by the Institute of Education, London. Data on health visitors are drawn from a recent research project at Thomas Coram Research Unit, ‘Parents and Professionals—perspectives on child health care’, carried out by the author together with Berry Mayall. The Economic and Social Research Council funded the study from 1985–1988.